The International Year of Chemistry 2011 attracted chemistry women worldwide for a breakfast meeting on January 18, 2011. In addition to networking, the aim was to commemorate the fundamental role Marie Curie attained in chemistry on the 100th anniversary of her being awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1911. The event was held in various centers worldwide including Prague. and Zuzana Sedláková.
We feature an interview in this issue with Professor Josef Michl, acclained chemist, who received his Ph.D. at the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences in 1965 but left Czechoslovakia three years later. He became a full professor in 1975 at University of Utah. Professor Michl has held nearly one hundred visiting professorships and named lectureships, delivered hundreds of invited lectures at institutions and conferences, has served on many professional and editorial boards, advisory councils, and committees, and has organized several international meetings. Since 2006, he also has held an appointment at the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the ASCR. He is a laureate of Wichterle Award, the Schrödinger and Porter Medals, the J. Heyrovský Gold Medal of the ASCR and Charles University, the Czech government Patria Award for Czech scientists working abroad, and the Marinus Smith Award from the University of Colorado for his work with undergraduates. He is also a member of the US National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science and is an honorary member of the Czech Learned Society. and Sylva Daníčková.